Multilevel governance patterns and the protection of groundwater and drinking water in Florida and the Netherlands

Bressers, J.T.A.
and
Kuks, S.M.M.
(2000)
Multilevel governance patterns and the protection of groundwater and drinking water in Florida and the Netherlands.
In: 2nd Political science / University of Florida – CSTM / University of Twente joint conference, February 17-19, 2000, University of Florida.

This paper develops a model of ‘governance’ as an aid for comparing such
governance structures and applies these to a particular policy arena: policies
on the protection of groundwater and on drinking water quality in the
Netherlands and Florida.
The research questions examined by this paper are:
1. Which elements make up a governance structure?
2. In what ways do these elements influence each other?
3. What are the differences between the multilevel structure of protection for
aquifers in Florida and the Netherlands, and how do these differences
relate to other differences in the governance structure?
The analysis in this paper has shown that ‘governance’ involves more
elements than policy objectives and the means to implement policy. These
elements are not simply the sum of individual aspects but are closely
interlinked. We have tried to illustrate how these interrelations work. The case
study we used for this was the comparison between the Netherlands and
Florida regarding the protection of the quality of groundwater and drinking
water. The high degree of similarity between both states highlights the
differences, which exist as well. The interrelations between these differences
can be understood by using our hypotheses of the mechanisms by which they
work.